ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal has received a binding offer from Liberty House Group for the acquisition of ArcelorMittal Ostrava (Czech Republic), ArcelorMittal Galati (Romania), ArcelorMittal Skopje (Macedonia) and ArcelorMittal Piombino (Italy).

The four assets are part of a divestment package the Company agreed with the European Commission during its merger control investigation into the Company’s acquisition of Ilva S.p.A (‘Ilva’).

Transaction closing is subject to the completion of the Company’s acquisition of Ilva, and conditional on EU approval and the conclusion of information consultations with local and European Works Councils.

ArcelorMittal Brazil is to resume the expansion project at ArcelorMittal Vega, the flat steel cold rolling, pickling, and galvanising unit located in São Francisco do Sul (state of Santa Catarina), Brazil.

The investment will include the construction of a new continuous annealing line and a third galvanisation line for the production of cold rolled and galvanised products. The capacity of the unit is set to increase by 700,000 tonnes to a total of 2.1 million tonnes per year. Production is expected to begin in 2021.

The project will increase production for the automotive, construction and home appliances sectors at the Vega unit. This investment is expected to sustain ArcelorMittal’s growth strategy in Brazil and Latin America.

ArcelorMittal Zenica, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, has completed a €30 million project to rebuild the blast furnace and upgrade other areas of the factory, including the energy, sinter and steel plants and the rolling mill.

The latest projects are bringing the total invested in the Zenica plant to over €200 million. The refurbishment means that integrated steel production can continue in Zenica for up to 20 years into the future.

The project’s completion was marked with a ceremony in the heart of the steelworks, attended by over 200 guests, including Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fadil Novalic and Miralem Galijasevic, Prime Minister of Zenica-Doboj Canton. Augustine Kochuparampil and Lutz Bandusch attended on behalf of ArcelorMittal Europe.

To explore innovative ideas in new technologies for its steelmaking and mining activities, ArcelorMittal has partnered with Silicon Valley-based Plug and Play, the world’s largest ‘Innovation EcoSystem’ which helps connect technology focused startup companies with corporate partners.

The purpose of this partnership is to further develop and expand upon the various initiatives which ArcelorMittal is developing and deploying in the areas of digitalisation, big data and Industry 4.0. It is also an opportunity to explore further ideas in new materials, mobility and other emerging technologies.

“We are very excited about this partnership. Our aim is to identify new ideas from startups that may accelerate the transformation of our company and help us develop superior products, processes and services.”, explains Greg Ludkovsky, Vice-President of ArcelorMittal and Head of Global Research and Development.